Abstract:

The concept of strategic management in business industry has attracted great
attention in the past two decades, and the component of successful strategy execution
of it is key for any organizations survival. Many organizations find it difficult to
sustain their competitive advantages, despite having a robust strategy formulation
process. The study reviewed relevant literature and theoretical underpinnings to
address the research objective. The study was guided by four specific objectives: to
establish the influence of organizational structure on strategy execution in shipping
companies in Kenya, to determine the influence of organizational resources on
strategy execution in shipping companies in Kenya, to examine the influence of
strategic leadership on strategy execution of shipping companies in Kenya, to
determine the influence of organizational culture on strategy execution in shipping
companies in Kenya. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design.
The population of the research consists of the 38 shipping companies in Kenya as at
2015. The unit of analysis were the employees in charge of strategic management
matters in the shipping companies in Kenya. The study adopted purposive sampling.
The study used primary data collected using structured questionnaires which were
pre-tested before being administered. The respondents comprised of the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), Chief Finance Officer
(CFO), Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Business Development Officer.
These officers were purposely selected due to their level of involvement in strategy
execution matters in their respective shipping companies. Therefore the target
population was 190 officers from the shipping companies in Kenya. Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in data analysis where both descriptive
and inferential statistics were applied. Further the collected data was sorted, coded
and entered into SPSS for production of graphs and tables. A pilot study of 10% of
the sample was done to check on validity and reliability. The research hypotheses
adopted two approaches; one was testing the significance of the relationship and two,
the goodness of fit of the relationship, i.e correlation and regression analysis
respectively. The hypotheses were tested within the 95% level of confidence interval
or 5% level of significance. Strategy execution was regressed against four predictor
(independent) variables that capture key elements. The study used regression analysis
to test the effect among the study variables. Regression results indicated that the
strategic management determinants of strategic leadership, organization resources
and organization culture were statistically significant in explaining strategy execution
in shipping companies in Kenya while organization structure was statistically
insignificant. From the study, it is possible to conclude that the shipping companies
in Kenya are not fully embracing the strategy execution initiatives within them.
Therefore in order to survive and prosper in a rapidly changing business
environment, the companies should strive to maximize on the determinants that
influence strategy execution in their companies. Further the Kenyan maritime
regulators should assist the shipping companies in identifying leaders with the right
expertise and experience in leading the shipping companies in Kenya to execute their
strategies effectively. The regulators should also ensure that the policies and
guidelines are put in place that can clearly guide who is to lead these companies. The
xxi
shipping companies should collaborate with government agencies and other privately
owned companies to learn on the best practices of strategy execution.